Postage stamp affixer



Aprii 29 1941.. 5. cs. RICHARDS POSTAGE $11M? AFFIXER Filed A ru 22,1939 UNi'lE Patented Apr. 29, 194i POSTAGE STAMP AFFIXER Samuel G.Richards, Des Moines, Iowa Application April'22, 1939, Serial No.269,402

5 Claims.

My invention relates to that class of postage stamp afiixer shown in myallowed application for United States Patent, Serial No. 202,730, filedApril 18, 1938', now Patent No. 2,167,908, patented Aug. 1, 1939.

The object of my present invention is to provide means of simple,durable and inexpensive construction for automatically moistening thegummed'portion of the stamps as they aremoved through the affixer,thereby avoiding the additional manual operation of moistening thestamps, and saving time and expense of such operation.

"More specifically, it is my object to provide a stamp moistener inwhich the stamp moistening sponge is readily accessible and, yet, whenin use, is fully enclosed, and further to provide'a moistener in whichthe sponge is yieldingly held against the entire gummed portion of thestamps and the opposite surfaces of the stamps are pressed against asmooth solid surface so that every portion of the gummed surfaces isuniformly moistened.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, Figure I shows a side elevationof my improved postage stamp affixer and moistener held in an operatorshand, portions of the stamp container and the sponge receptacle beingbroken away;

, Figure 2 shows a side elevation of my improved device, the hinged.door ofthe stamp container being open;

Figure 3 shows a top or plan View of my improved device;

Figure 4 shows a. detail sectional View on the line 4-4 of Figure 5 withthe sponge receptacle in open position;

Figure 5 shows a sectional view on the line 55 of Figure 2; and

Figure 6 shows a detail sectional view illustrating the means forsecuring the hinged cover of the stamp receptacle in closed position.

The stamp receptacle comprises a cylindrical body Hi having a centralstandard ll secured to the fixed end member I21 This cylindricalreceptacle has a stamp opening at its top at it, and the cylindricalmember it is made of spring material.

At one edge of the cylindrical member lfi adjacent the slot l3 I haveformed a depression is, as shown in Figure 6, and the hinged member I5is formed with a latch member E6 to enter said depression and to therebysecure the hinged side member iii in closed position. This latch deviceis very readily andeasily opened by pressure of the operators fingerupon the cylindrical member 19 adjacent the slot 13.

Projecting outwardly from the slot I3 is a smooth surfaced stamp-guidingmember l1 having its side edges extended upwardly and inwardly formingthe guide members l8. This guide member H is otherwise open at its topand is so arranged and positioned relative to the stamp container thatan operator may readily and easily grasp the stamp container in the palmof his hand with, the fingers encircling the stamp container, as shownin Figure 1, and when in that position the operators thumb naturallyrests upon the top of this guide member I7, and with this thumb theoperator can withdraw stamps from the roll and accurately adjust theirpositions by moving the thumb either forwardly or rearwardly to therebybringthe perforated end of the outer stamp to the exact position fortearing off the stamp along the perforated line. A finger guard i9 isprovided between the guiding member I7 and the adjacent surface of thecontainer I ll. Mounted upon the end portion of the guiding member ll"is a spring latch member 20:.

My improved moistening device comprises a stamp guiding member 2i, theunder surface of which is smooth, and its side edges are inclineddownwardly and then inwardly to partially encircle a strip, ofstampsextended through it and to form a guide. The outer end is straightand relatively sharp at 22 to adapt it for holding stamps in positionfor accurately tearing them off at the perforated line between twostamps.

Fixed in position adjacent the inner end of the guiding member 2! is alug 23 to be engaged by the spring latch member 2!] for holding theguide member 2! in position with the guide member I l. The operator mayrelease the member 2| by pushing the spring, latch member 26 upwardlytoward the under surface of the member 11, whereupon thespring latchmember will slide under the stationary latch member 23.

On the under surface of the guide member 2! are two downwardly extendedlugs 24, and supported by these lugs there is pivoted the spongereceptacle. This comprises a bottom portion 25,

upright sides 23 and an end member 21 having its upper edge rounded at28, and in this receptacle I have placed a sponge 29. Thespongereceptacle is normally held in its closed position by a spring (to sothat it is yieldingly held with only slight pressure upwardly toward theunder surface of the guide member 2 l.

For holding the sponge receptacle in open position I have provided aspring friction member 2-H secured to the inner side of thewall 26 andin position where, when the sponge receptacle is in position, as shownin Figure 4, it will engage the adjacent lug 24 and frictionally holdthe sponge receptacle in its open position.

In practical use the operator places a roll of postage stamps within thestamp container and mounts same upon the central post II, and one end ofthe strip of stamps is extended through the opening [3 and throughthe'stamp guiding members II and 2|. The sponge 29 is moistened in thesponge receptacle and the sponge receptacle moved to its closedposition, then the operator grasps the device in his hand, as shown inFigure 1, and with his thumb he moves the strip of stamps forwardlyacross the sponge, and this applies the correct amount of moisture tothe gummed under surface of the stamps He then moves the strip of stampswith his thumb to position with the end stamp exactly in position withits perforated edge at the dege 22 of the stamp guiding member. Then theoperator moves the device in such manner as to tear off the stamp alongthe said perforated line, the gummed portion of the stamp serving tohold it in position during said tearing off operation, or the operatormay, with his other hand, hold the stamp in position on an envelope.

One of the advantageous features of my invention is that the moistenedsponge is yielding held in position against the gummed surface of thestrip of stamps, and this yieldingly holds the strip of stamps in aflattened out position against the adjacent surface of the guide member2|. This smoothes out the strip of stamps and enables the device tothoroughly and completely moisten every part of the gummed surface ofthe stamp. The sponge receptacle may be very easily opened to moisten orremove the sponge, and is yieldingly held in its open position whilethis is being done. Furthermore, the stamp container may be readily andeasily opened by the pressure of the operators thumb upon the free endportion of the cylinder l adjacent the depression [4.

The sponge may be of any yielding moistureabsorbent material.

In the event that a strip of stamps should stick to either of the stampguide members I! or 2|, the operator may, by depressing the spring latchmember, release it so that the guide member may easily be slid outwardlyand removed, whereupon easy access is had to the stamps for removingthem.

If the stamps are in strips, not rolls, they may be readily and easilyinserted through the guide members without putting them in the stampcontainer.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination with a postage stamp affixer having a stamp guidemember with a smooth upper surface, of a spring latch member on itsunder side, a stamp guide member having a smooth under surface anddownwardly and inwardly extended side walls s'lidingly mounted on thefirst guide member, a co-acting latch member carried by the second guidemember to secure it in position, a sponge receptacle open at its upperside and hinged at its rear end to the second guide member and extendedforwardly, the forward end thereof having a smooth, rounded uppersurface normally spaced apart from the under surface of the second guidemember, a spring for yieldingly holding the sponge. receptacle towardthe guide member, a friction device for holding the sponge receptacle inopen position, and a sponge in the sponge receptacle.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of a holder for astrip of adhesive paper, said holder being in the form of a handle to begrasped by an operator, a guide extended from the handle adapted toreceive a strip of adhesive material from the handle and enclosed on allsides and having an opening at its top positioned to receive anoperators thumb on the hand grasping the handle, so that the thumb mayengage the strip of adhesive material, the outer end of the guide memberbeing open, a stripholding member projected beyond the open outer end ofthe guide member above the open end and having a straight outer edge atright angles to the guide member for pressing an adhesive strip againsta surface to which it is applied and for forming a straight edge againstwhich the adhesive strip is held for accurately tearing it off on astraight line transversely of the strip, a moisture absorbing spongeyieldingly held in position beyond said outer end of the guide memberand beneath the under surface of the stampholding member for moisteningthe adhesive strip and for smoothing it out and pressing it against theunder surface of the strip-holding member,

and a holder for the sponge hinged to the under surface of the guidemember to move from position for holding the sponge in its operativeposition to a position in which the sponge is spaced apart a substantialdistance from the strip-holding member.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination of a holder for astrip of adhesive paper, said holder being in the form of a handle to begrasped by an operator, a guide extended from the handle adapted toreceive a strip of adhesive material from the handle and enclosed on allsides and having an opening at its top positioned to receive anoperators thumb on the hand grasping the handle, so that the thumb mayengage the strip of adhesive material, the outer end of the guide memberbeing open, a stripholding member projected beyond the open outer end ofthe guide member above the open end and having a straight outer edge atright angles to the guide member for pressing an adhesive strip againsta surface to which it is applied and for forming a straight edge againstwhich the adhesive strip is held for accurately tearing it off on astraight line transversely of the strip, a moisture absorbing spongeyieldingly held in position beyond said outer end of the guide memberand beneath the under surface of the stampholding member for moisteningthe adhesive strip and for smoothing it out and pressing it against theunder surface of the strip-holding member, and a holder for the spongehinged to the under surface of the guide member to move from positionfor holding the sponge in its operative position to a position in whichthe sponge is spaced apart a substantial distance from the strip-holdingmember, and means for frictionally holding it in said latter position.

4. In a postage stamp affixer, the combination of a holder for a roll ofstamps, said holder being in the form of a handle to be grasped by anoperator, a guide extended from the handle adapted to receive a strip ofstamps from the handle and enclosed on all sides and having an openingat its top positioned to receive an operators thumb on the hand graspingthe handle, so that the thumb may engage the strip of stamps, the outerend of the guide member being open, a stampholding member projectedbeyond the open outer end of the guide member above the open end andhaving a straight sharpened edge at right angles beyond the cup toposition where when the device is held at the proper angle for applyingand tearing off portions of the strip, the cup .will not be tilted tosuch angle as to permit its liquid contents to flow out.

5. In a postage stamp affixer, the combination of a holder for a roll ofstamps, said holder being in the form of a handle to be grasped by anoperator, a guide extended from the handle adapted to receive a strip ofstamps from the handle and enclosed on all sides and having an openingat its top positioned to receive an operators thumb on the hand graspingthe handle, so that the thumb may engage the strip of stamps, the outerend of the guide member being open, a stampholding member projectedbeyond the open outer end of the guide member above the open end andhaving a straight sharpened edge at right angles to the guide member forpressing a stamp against a surface to which it is applied, and foraccurately tearing it off on a straight line transversely of the strip,a sponge-holding cup movable from operative position close to the undersurface of said stamp-holding member to position widely spacedtherefrom, and a sponge in said cup yieldingly held against a strip ofstamps on the under surface of the stamp-holding member.

SAMUEL G. RICHARDS.

